Belarus’ economy is not going to do well in 2017, World Bank says

Recession in the Belarusian economy is likely to continue in 2017, World Bank country economist Kirill Gaiduk stated.

“The economy will remain in recession. The recovery is not expected until 2018”, Gaiduk said.

On the good side, WB expects the recession to be lower than in 2016. The bank’s experts expect the GDP to decline by 0.9% next year.

In 2018, the economy may grow by 1.1%. This will be possible due to the recovery of the markets of Belarus’ major trading partners. In addition, the growth hopes are connected with reforms aimed at improving competitiveness and performance of real sector enterprises.

This scenario is based on the assumption that the volume of oil and gas supplies from Russia will be restored to the former level, Gaiduk added.

The economist believes that 2017 will also be marked with the decline of real incomes and rising unemployment.